The View From My Son's Subconscious
by Chromical
Summary: After Minato seals the fox and himself inside Naruto, he finds he can look out at the world through his son's eyes. What will he see? T to be safe, as always. Abandoned for OOCness and AAANGGSTTTT in huge amounts.
1. Prologue: The Sealing

Minato gripped his wife's hand. With her eyes squeezed tight, she clutched his hand, panting. Rin looked up at the scene from her seat, slightly distracted from the birth by this show of affection. It was normal for her to see displays of affection during birth, but she had never seen Minato-sensei so much as chuckle in the presence of people. She looked down, back to the birthing. "Okay, Kushina. On three, push." She said calmly. Kushina nodded, a bead of sweat rolling down her face. "One, two, three." Kushina Uzumaki's face crumpled, working hard to give birth. Minato saw this, and gripped her hand harder. He could feel the thump of her heart through her palm. All of a sudden, Rin raised her head, a smile coming onto her face. "That's it! Just a little bit more, Kushina!" She said, watching the baby slip out.

"YEAAAGH!" Kushina shrieked as the baby finally left her body. She relaxed and went into a slump. Minato cut the cord, Rin wrapped the baby in a blanket, and Kushina held him lovingly, ruffling his blond hair. "He really looks like you, Minato," She cooed to both him and the baby. "Hey there, Naruto. I'm your mommy." Naruto responded with the most wonderful screaming Minato had ever heard. He smiled.

"Now we're a real family," He said, wrapping his arms around his wife and baby. Pure ecstasy overtook him as he looked as Naruto's screaming, red face. The high-pitched shriek ran clear through the entire room, sweet music to the happy couple's ears. Suddenly, there was a muffled but loud crash from the Forest of Death's direction. "What was that?" Minato said, lifting his head to look out the window. Outside, he saw a gigantic fox in the distance, its nine tails thrashing. "Crap." Minato looked into Kushina's eyes. "Stay safe for me, okay? I need to take Naruto with me." Kushina looked into Minato's eyes with fear and anger.

"Why?" She asked. Suddenly, something clicked in her head. "You're going to use him to seal the fox? He'll be an outcast!" Minato seized the baby from her hands and jumped to the window, ready for his mission.

"Not if I get my way." He jumped out into the open air with his son clutched tightly in his arms. Not the smartest thing he'd ever done, but he landed safely anyway. He proceeded to summon Gamabunta.

* * *

He clutched an area of the large toad's skin with one hand, barely hanging on. "Gama-sama, a little help?" He shouted, looking up at the toad's massive figure. Gamabunta shifted a little, helping Minato onto his back. "Thanks."

"Why did you summon me today, brat?" Gamabunta asked as he looked into the distance. Seeing a giant fox on the horizon, he rephrased. "How can I help you with the fox?"

"I'm gonna need to seal it, so once I'm done hold onto the baby and my body." Gamabunta nodded.

"Yeah, sur- wait, your _body?_" However, it was too late. Minato kept on urging him forward.

Soon, they were face to face with the giant fox. Minato went into a fighting stance, holding the baby in one and and making seals with the other. Behind him, a shingiami only he could see appeared. Its hand went through his soul, reaching straight for the fox. It twisted and turned, Minato urging it to reach the fox. Finally, the hand made contact. Minato laid Naruto on the ground, firmly placing his hand on the child's stomach. As he felt himself weakening, he channeled the fox's chakra into his son's newly cut umbilical cord, leaving an imprint of himself. After a few hours, he finished, expecting the eternal rest of death. Instead, he found something much more surprising.

* * *

Minato felt himself hit the floor of something, and he opened his eyes. He was in a dark place with stone all around. It had the appearance of the sewer, but at one end there was a wall caging something in. Minato scurried over to the large cage, peering in like a young child gawking at a goldfish. Something made a sudden movement, slowly padding forward on gigantic feet. Minato stood proudly, trying not to show any fear. Inside, he was quivering and crying like a baby. A loud, horrible voice echoed through the room.

"**Whaddaya want?**" It said groggily. "**Listen, I'm not in the mood to talk. Every time I get sealed, it really tires me out. **" The voice continued gruffly. Minato's eyes widened in surprise. Was he talking to the Kyuubi himself? As if reading his mind, the Kyuubi answered. "**No shit, Sherlock. What else could I be? A flying unicorn?**" Minato jumped at this slightly angry outburst.

"Can you tell me where we are?" He asked, finding it absurd that he was asking the most powerful demon in existence where they were. The large slitted eyes in the darkness rolled themselves.

"**Inside the Jinchuuriki, obviously. Poor kid.** **Life's gonna suck for him when I get out of here.**" The Kyuubi replied arrogantly. "**Anyways, who the hell are you?**"

"I am Minato Namikaze, the current Hokage," He said proudly. He then remembered that he was dead. " I mean, I _was_ the Hokage. I'm the guy who sealed you." At this, the Kyuubi roared.

"**YOU'RE THE DIRTBAG WHO SEALED ME INSIDE THIS WHINY BRAT?**" He boomed, shaking the entire room. Minato could faintly hear Naruto's screaming louden. The fox thrashed inside his tiny prison.

"This is gonna be a _long_ eternity."

* * *

I know it's a little short, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Anyways, did you like it? Please review!


	2. First Year

After the Kyuubi calmed down, he decided to show Minato a trick. "**Minato, I gotta show you something I learned from being trapped in Jinchuuriki all the time.**" He said, trying to be friendly. They _were_ going to be roommates until he either broke free, or the kid died. The Kyuubi hoped for the first one.

"What?" Minato said from his corner of the room, hugging his knees. What had he done to his son? He was just beginning to realize the torture he would inadvertently put Naruto through. The Kyuubi rolled his bright red eyes.

"**I found that you can look out at the world using the Jinchuuriki's eyes, **" He said, smirking as he saw Minato's eyes widen. Heh. Humans are too curious for their own good. "**Just look at the wall behind you.**" Minato turned around, and was surprised by what he saw.

* * *

It looked like a glass wall now, and it showed the masked face of… Kakashi? "Hey there, Naruto," Minato heard Kakashi's voice coo. Kakashi then looked away. "Where's his mother?" Minato ran forward to the glass, eager for this news. He hadn't known whether Kushina had survived childbirth, let alone the Kyuubi attack.

** "**Her placenta wouldn't detach," A voice that sounded like Tsunade's said. "I tried to get there to help Rin, but it was too late. Kushina died from the hemorrhaging." Minato slammed his hand against the glass, tears rolling down his face.

"Now Naruto is all alone," He sobbed. "I never wanted this. Why? Why did we both have to die?" He turned around to face the Kyuubi. "_You._" He said vehemently, scaring even the Kyuubi. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT I'M NOT ALIVE RIGHT NOW!" Before the Kyuubi could defend himself, Minato had gone back into his refuge of sadness. "If only I could have… really seen him. Now I'll _never_ get that chance. He doesn't even know I'm his father," He moaned miserably, kneeling in front of the glass. "What a damn good father _I've _been." He hid his head in his knees.

"**Seriously, will you stop with the angst? Ya did the best you could do. Don't mope about it **_**forever.**_" The Kyuubi said, annoyed. Foolish angsty humans. Minato raised his head to give the Kyuubi a death glare. Before he could open his mouth, the Kyuubi said his words for him. "**Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Why should I listen to a demon?' 'You caused this!' Yada, yada, yada. Just trust me on this one, 'mmmkay?"** Minato raised one of his eyebrows and sighed.

"I guess there's nothing good to do except watch, then." Minato mumbled.

* * *

Minato fully immersed himself into his son's infantile mind. He saw Tsunade (who Naruto liked to refer to as Boob Lady, much to Minato's chagrin) play patticake with his son, and watched her eternally young face peek in and out of sight for Naruto's enjoyment. He smiled when Kakashi handed Naruto a small fox plushie, which Minato stared at for hours along with Naruto. (Naruto referred to the fox as Kit, much to the Kyuubi's amusement.) He clapped happily when he first heard Naruto speak ('Boob Lady, give me Kit!') and when Naruto first began to walk.

Truthfully, it was a strange experience when Naruto walked. Minato could only see from the viewpoint of Naruto, who happened to be stumbling around like a drunk Jiraiya. This made Minato very motion sick at times.

After a while, Minato finally got to experience Naruto's first birthday. When the day finally came, the Kyuubi (Who Minato now referred to simply as Kyuubi) sat grumpily in his cage. "**Ugh, I always hate sealing anniversaries,**" He grumbled. Minato was too distracted by the outside world to notice. He saw Tsunade's face, brought close to the glass.

"Guess what, Naru-kun?" She cooed. "Someone special is coming! Can you guess?" As Naruto giggled at hearing Tsunade's voice, Minato pondered. Kakashi hadn't visited in a long time… Could it be him? Maybe it was Iruka, who had taken some kind of liking to the young baby. Or maybe it was Sasuke Uchiha, whom Naruto had met at the park. "It's your godfather, Jiraiya!" Minato was overjoyed, seeing as Naruto had never met his godfather. Just then, Jiraiya burst into the room.

"DID SOMEONE ORDER A LARGE HAM?" He said, crashing into the small apartment. His attention was then given to the birthday boy. Jiraiya walked over, hands outstretched. "Hey there, kid. I'm Grampa Jiraiya!" Naruto giggled and clapped his chubby hands at the loud man. He had already established a nickname in his head: Loud Man. Naruto picked up Kit and waved him at Loud Man, grunting. "Oh, is this your friend?" Jiraiya said, shaking the fox's hand.

"Kit, Kit," Naruto said eagerly, waving the poor stuffed animal even more. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and turned to Tsunade.

"You let him call it Kit?"

"He won't call it anything else," Tsunade said, shrugging. "He calls me 'Boob Lady'." Jiraiya chuckled.

"B-boob Lady?" He said, holding back laughter. He then broke out into said laughter. "HAHA! _BOOB LADY_! OH! THAT'S GOLDEN!" He roared. Tsunade furrowed her brow at him, rendering the pervert silent. Minato shook his head at his foolish teacher.

"You just dodged a bullet there, Sensei," Minato said, shaking his head scoldingly. He acted as if Jiraiya could actually _hear_ him, which made the Kyuubi scoff. It wasn't loud enough for Minato to hear, but it was still a scoff.

Loud Man held Naruto at arm's length, making him giggle. It had been a really long time since someone had held him like that. Loud Man tickled Naruto's armpits, which made the little boy giggle. He was set back down on the ground again, and Loud Man crouched to his level. "Happy birthday, Naruto," Loud Man said, producing a stuffed frog from his knapsack. Naruto happily grabbed it with little hands and chewed on one of the toes.

* * *

When it finally came the time to blow out candles, Jiraiya helped Naruto blow them out. This made Minato feel a heavy sense of longing. Longing for a normal life. Longing for a family. For a chance to help him blow out his son's candles, instead of just watching. "Am I gonna feel this type of longing every year?" He asked nobody in particular, sounding slightly depressed. "Isn't it good enough that I'm _dead?_" Minato swallowed hard after he said that. _He had finally said that he was actually dead._ Admitting that was like giving up, even though he knew he was dead. He knew that his real body was buried deep underground, being decomposed by bacteria and fungi. The thought unnerved him. The Kyuubi gave a dark chuckle, as if he understood Minato's problem.

"**Humans have always been fearful of death, for some reason.**" The Kyuubi said simply, as if death was no big deal. "**Honestly, it's not that big a whoop. You die, you wait a little, and then ya get what you deserve. Simple as that,**" The Kyuubi continued. Minato turned to the fox.

"The problem is that _we don't know,_" Minato said. "You don't exactly see dead people telling you what it's like." The Kyuubi scoffed.

" **You get what you believe in when it comes to death,**" The Kyuubi said, showing a surprising amount of wisdom. Minato's expression morphed into one of disbelief.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't believe I was gonna be roommates with the Kyuubi post-humously," Minato said.

"Ah, touché."

* * *

How did you like it? Please review, or IMMA GONNA FIRE MAH LAZUR!


	3. Second Year & Skip

Yeah, I know- I broke the hiatus. (Yay!) Anyways, there may be a slight shift in writing quality in this chapter, most probably getting better as time goes on. Enjoy!

* * *

Naruto's second year of life was much more exciting. One of Minato's favorite things to see was Sasuke and Naruto's playdates. They would simply sit at the park that Sasuke's mother had taken them to and play all day. Sometimes, they would watch Itachi (Who Naruto referred to as Itchy) practice his Henges, which amused them both. Itachi was only seven, but Minato saw that he was a prodigy. He had already graduated from ninja school, and was well on his way to being a Chuunin. Naruto laughed as Itachi turned into Kakashi.

"Who am I?" He said in a perfect imitation of Kakashi's voice. Sasuke was the first one to answer.

"Book Man! Book Man!" He said, using his and Naruto's nickname for the masked man. Itachi nodded, and turned into a replica of Iruka Umino. Naruto was the one to answer this time.

"Iwooka!" He said in his adorable mispronouncement of the 14-year-old's name. Itachi reappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Right. Good job, you two!" He said to the little toddlers. After Naruto's birthday party, Tsunade and Jiraiya had left Konoha, so the Hokage had taken him in. This didn't stop Itachi and Sasuke from treating him like a brother, though. Minato sighed. Naruto needed their support. The entire village had started to despise him. His days of being a harmless baby were gone, so he was seen as demon spawn. Just then, a little pink-haired girl being held up by a concerned mother walked by. Sasuke took no notice of her, and kept playing. Naruto, on the other hand, had noticed her.

"Hi! Hi, Sakoowa!" He exclaimed, waving his chubby hand in her direction. The mother of the pink-haired girl picked the child up, glaring intently at Naruto. She frowned, creasing her eyebrows, and walked away quickly. Minato and Naruto had been seeing a lot of that behavior lately.

"**Well, what did you expect?**" A loud, arrogant voice boomed from the back of the room. **"He's the strongest reminder of an event they want to forget. Of **_**course**_** they shun him."** Minato looked down, sad.

"I thought… they would respect him. He saved the entire town… and how do they repay him?" Minato said, suppressing rising anger levels. "They make him an _outcast_!" His anger faltered, and he hesitated. "I… never wanted this to happen. My regret haunts me every day, and I have nothing else to do here but regret. _This is my own personal hell._" The Kyuubi scoffed.

"**Don't even **_**say**_** that it's my fault. I know.**" The Kyuubi said, attempting some twisted version of sympathy. Instead, it came out catty and rude. Minato turned his back to the giant fox, no longer listening.

"Every time I see somebody glare…" His voice cracked, but he continued. "It feels like they're glaring at _me._ As if they're saying, 'How could you do this to your _own son_?'" As he started to break down again, Minato's attention was pulled to the outside world. There was suddenly movement. "Wait, what's Naruto doing?" He said, panicked. Flashes and blurs of light and color flooded the screen connecting Minato to the outside world.

"Kit! Kit!" He said, toddling towards a few older kids who had the stuffed toy. They probably remembered the Kyuubi attack, and had decided the Kyuubi shouldn't have a stuffed fox. They ran away with it, laughing. Itachi stood up, anger quietly emanating from his young figure.

"How could they do such a thing to a small child?" He said, rage uncharacteristically tinging his words. He made to run after the children, but his mother caught him.

"We can't do anything, Itachi. Naruto will never get that fox back." At those words, something shook the room Minato and the Kyuubi were in. The small seal on the Kyuubi's cage glowed red, sucking energy from the Kyuubi and sending it out of the room.

"**Well, crap.**" The Kyuubi said, looking up at the string of red penetrating the ceiling. "**Naruto's drawing energy from me.**"

"What?!?" Minato exclaimed. "I knew it would happen eventually, but not this soon!" He held his head. "What if you break out?" The Kyuubi smiled at the thought of his own freedom.

"**I would really like that, but it isn't happening anytime soon. Sadly.**" The Kyuubi huffed. "**All he can do is draw on a tiny bit of my endless energy.**" Outside, Naruto swiftly moved in the direction of the older kids, coming up behind them. A horrible, raspy sound came from his throat.

"Haa…. Haa…" The little boy growled. The kids turned around, one of them clutching the little fox. Their eyes widened in surprise, and the fox shook in one of the boy's hands.

"Oh my god, he _is_ a demon!" One of the two kids said, fear filling his voice. "Quick, Shigure! Give him back the fox!" The boy called Shigure glanced at the fox in his hand, shoving it fearfully towards Naruto. As soon as the little fox was in his chubby hands, the seal on the cage returned to its normal color. Minato saw the blur as Naruto turned and skipped away, leaving the two boys dumbfounded.

"What the hell just happened?" Minato said, staring dead into the screen, but not really looking at it.

"**Well, you started angsting-**"

"That was _not _angsting!"

"**It was totally angsting. Anyways, after the angst, little demon-child here got his fox taken away. He went Super Saiya- I mean, Jinchuuriki, and got the fox back. Why is that so hard to understand?**" The Kyuubi said, a snide tone in his voice.

For the rest of the day, they sat in silence.

* * *

_**Five years later…**_

Minato looked out of the screen, watching the ninja school come closer and closer.

"Wow," He said. "My son is parading off to ninja school for the first time. I feel like a real father," Minato said proudly.

"**Aw, shut up. Your happiness is getting to me.**" Naruto marched in through the school's doors and pointed his finger in the air.

"Hello, Ninja Academy! You're about to meet the best student you've ever had- UZUMAKI NARUTO!" He shouted proudly. Older kids mumbled grumpily at the loud and boisterous seven-year-old.

"Ugh, every year we get one of those kids," A ten-year-old whispered.

"Yeah, the ones who think they're gonna be somethin' big, like Hokage!" A tomboyish kunoichi replied. Inside Naruto, Minato shook his head.

"He really takes after Kushina, doesn't he?" He said to nobody in particular. "He's going to get _really_ beat up." Minato's attitude towards school had always been meek and modest; He didn't dare upset the upperclassmen. Outside, a matronly woman held a single finger up, the other hand clutching a clipboard to her chest.

"All first years, please come assemble here!" She said. A group of kids rushed towards her. Some kids had that signature 'deer-in-the-headlights' look that only first years had. Others had cocky grins on their faces, glancing at the other people who were grinning. Naruto was one of them. Naruto spotted his friend, Sasuke, among the somewhat-large group. He was staring up at the woman, mouth slightly open. Minato was instantly reminded of himself when he was age. It was funny- Even though Naruto looked almost exactly like him, he acted almost exactly like Kushina. She even had his little quirk of saying '~Ttebayo' after every sentence.

"Now, let's all get into a single-file line!" She said. All of the children shifted into her requested line, and she started walking forward. All the children followed, like how ducklings follow their mother. After twisting and turning through the school, they finally stopped in front of a door. Minato recognized this as the first-year door, having been in there when he was little. As the children were ushered inside, a nervous-looking nineteen-year-old stood up from his seat. A flash of recognition went through both Naruto and Minato- It was Iruka!

"Oi, Iruka!" Naruto said excitedly, waving his hand. "It's me, Naruto!" Iruka's eyes turned to Naruto.

"Naruto-san, you will refer to me as Umino-sensei from now on, understand?" Iruka snapped.

"Okay, Iruka-sensei!" Iruka groaned, putting a hand to his face.

"This is gonna be a long year," He muttered. "Hello, class! My name is Umino Iruka, but you can call me Umino-sensei. How about we go around telling each other about ourselves?" He pointed to a little boy with a pineapple-shaped hairdo. He already looked bored, and was leaning on one elbow.

"Okay," The little boy said. "My name is Nara Shikamaru, and I like doing nothing, looking at clouds, and sleeping." Umino's left eye twitched. He hoped the rest of his class was more energetic than this child.

"Great," He said. "You go next." He pointed to a little girl with pink hair sitting next to Shikamaru. Naruto instantly recognized her- Sakura! He hadn't seen her in a really long time.

"My name is Haruno Sakura," She said excitedly. "I like hanging out with Ino, flowers, and…" She blushed furiously, thinking about Sasuke. A pout worked its way onto Naruto's face- why didn't she like _him_ instead?

After a few more people, Iruka-sensei finally got to Sasuke. The little boy's face was almost expressionless except for a hint of excitement showing in his eyes. That was Sasuke- he was always hard to get emotional. Must be a Uchiha thing.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," He said. A few girls in the back squealed. "I like hanging out with my older brother, eating ongiri, and reading." _Wow_, Iruka thought. _This kid might actually be… a good student!_

A few children later, Iruka-sensei reached Naruto. Naruto bounced one of his knees, happy and excited. The entire leg bounced up and down, like a rabbit on drugs.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," He said excitedly. A few kids groaned, in contrast to Sasuke's fangirl-squeals. "I like ramen, pulling pranks, and pulling pranks involving ramen!" _Wow_, Iruka thought sadly. _He's even more obsessed with ramen than before._

Inside Naruto, Minato put a hand to his forehead, exasperated. "Did I really help conceive him?" It seemed as if Naruto was the male version of Kushina! Not that it was a bad thing, but… Couldn't he at least have inherited Minato's book smarts?

* * *

It may have shifted styles within... but please review! **CONSTRUCTIVE** criticism only, please!


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